Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-01-23

| Nncn lnt bfitiNu hTnJ LOOK Possession
Of New York after the battle of CiowanuS
il was easy for them to obtain wood
from the neighboring shores Of Long
Island and NowJorscy AMI Wcstchester
county, but they soon exhausted
the supply near ut hand, and the
parties sent ten or fifteen miles into the
interior were frequently captured by
attachments OF American soldicry-a
fact that tended greatly to discourage
such expeditions, while the provost
marshal of The city levied a heavy tx
on I'll wood brought into the city by
civilians. This scarcity Of fuel lasted
Cor about six years, or until about n
year before the evacuation OF the city
! by the British, late III 1873. Another in.
stance of fucl-famine occurred during
the second war with Great Britain.
During one winter the harbor of New
York was blockaded by a British
feet. The season was extraordinarily
severe, and the supply of fuel soon ran
low. No coal WIS yet in use wood
was the sole reliance. and this was
brought to the city in sloops from up
tho Hudson river and elsewhere. But
the British men-Of-war now blockqded
the East river and also the NaTOwS,
and the ice in the Hudson shut off the
supply from the North In this emer-
gency the citizens petitioncd the Com
mon Council for permission 10 cut
down the trees on the Battery, along
Broadway and in Wall street, and the
request was granted.
HOW COAL SUPERSEDED WOOD.
Coal did not begin to come here from
the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania
until about 1880, or eight years after it
began to be used III that State. IL was
brought by water to New York. Until
about 1916, however, wood disputed
with coal the palm of popularity as II
fuel, but wood gradually grew scarccr
and dearer and was finally abandoned.
The ordinary price for the best hickory
between 1880 and 1910 WAS 80 a cord,
two cords being equal in heating power
to one ton of coal The shares of coal
companies, by the way, were the first
stocks dealt in on the New York Stock
Exchange, and the TRANSACTIONS in Della
ware and Hudson stock led TO a serious
quarrel in the Exchange, resulting i'll Il
detection from that body and the estab-
lishment of another board. There were
in those carly days only sixty members
of the Stock Exchange, whereas there
are now eleven hundred.
NEW YORK COAL SUPPLY.
Nearly all the coal brought to New
York comes in canal-boats carrying one
hundred tons or in cars holding from
fifteen to twenty tons. This coal is not
delivered in New York except to retail
ers. The railrOad-cars and canal-boats
are first unlOadcd at some one of the
numerous coal dcpots on the New Jcr-
sey shore. 1t is sent over to the city in
canal-boats rs II rule, though to some
extent in cars. Some Of the retailers
90 very extensive business, having
from ten to twenty different Offices.
There are many brokers who, while
ostcrsibly dealers themselves, are really
Supplied by retailers, from whom they
receive a commission. The poor in me
mcnts, having no place in whichto storr
coal, are obliged to buy thy thepliland
are thus forced to pay about double the
Usual price by the ton. Cheap fats and
some of the tcnemcnts are supplied in
cloth bags holdingone hundred pounds:
these bags obviatc the sprinkling OF
coal dust on the stairs and in the rooms,
and are rcal v useful invention; the
quantity of coal they contain usually
costs about thirty cents, but this price
was doubled recently by reason Of the
scarcity. The companies in the Penn
sylvania coal combination produce in
the aggregate 81, coo, 600 tons annually.
New York, Philadelphia, and Boston
are the great coal markets. Philadel-
phia, though nearer the coal fields,
has at times had to pay quite
higher prices than the other two
cities, the tax thus levied on its citi-
zens by the corporation which they
themselves created amounting in one
year, it is estimated to 50, $50, 0OJ.
This resulted from the lower rates OF
freight granted to the more distant
market. an inquiry two years ago
showed that Philadelphia, at distance
of only ninety miles from the coal
fields, paid retail price OF $3.50 per
ton; New York. 100 miles away, paid
only $3.50; Baltimore, 1873 miles dis
tant paid -, aud Boston. still stranger
tosay, though 354 miles away, paid only
S5.74 per ton.
Finally, it is one Of the won
dcriul facts of our -o-callcd pr0saic
life that coal, or, in other words, the
fossilized remains of forest, which cX-
listed hundreds OF thousands of years
before Sesostris, Cyrus, or Alexander
swayed the rod Of empire, before
Chaldea, Egypt. Assyria, or Persia APP
peared as morning stars In the twilight
of historic time, should now in this
undrcamed of epoch give warmth and
cheer to millions Of homes, and that
traders and corporations, who seem like
petty and ilnpish Lilliputians III the
presence OF such tremendous natural
forces, should 50 often make large
suffer either from It's arti-
iicial scarcity or It's costliness.
THE POLiCE-CAPTAGN DINNER
is the greatest dinner OF the season
] he food may not be as rich nor the |
wines as expensive as those which were |
served at Sir Morton Pete's banquctS
some years ago, but the company is of |
excellence. ' Nearly every |
prominent citizen is guest. \
stranger in the city can make more in
teresting acquaintance III four hours at |
one of these dinners than he could
make in four years skirmishing in the
city. Set speeches are usually made
by the best of orators COnkling,
Lyarts, Choate, Depew, Brady, Cock
ran, and Fellows are among those
who have illumined the police
captains table with their eloquence.
Among tine guests at Superintendent
liurray's table, at the recent dinner,
was a plump, ruddy-faced gentleman,
with sparkling eyes and white hair. He
was very social and agreeable, and
seemed to know everybody, from the
freshest alderman to the leading justice
Of the Supreme Court. He was my ois-
iris at the table On seeing me strike
\ match, preparatory to lighting one of
Ihe three excellent cigars tied with blue
ribbon and placed before each invited
guest, he said "Wait, don't light it.
| II give you one which / fancy you'll
enjoy. The tobacco is grown and the
cigars are made for my own comfort